Washington WiFi Works Great....

Day seven, and my week of Washington WiFi worked great! In fact, I have been connected via WiFi and DSL throughout my week here and was absolutely impressed at taking a class from so far away via UMConnect. It was an absolutely great experience! There are always a few glitches with technology just when you don't expect them, but it seems that the presenters prepared for this possibility through a pre-planned schedule of technology testing. Really, all the audio and video issues were worked out in advance and for that, my experience with the presentations was quite a good one.

There were some audio issues as well as video camera issues that could not be resolved, however. The audio issues revolved around feedback problems with computer speakers in the background as well as a headset that had a loose wire. Video connection issues prevented some presenters from providing a view of themselves to the class members--but other presenters decided to forego video and use only the audio, so there was consistency among all presentations.

For my part, the presentations, all using the same UMConnect online media delivery, went fairly well, although three presentations got a little long without varied activities offered between each presentation. Obviously, I have somewhat of an attention deficit, as I found myself--although extremely interested in the content and committed to supporting my classmates--daydreaming with my mind wandering from Washington to Minnesota and back.

So what did I learn? Plan, prepare, practice, and then present. Pay attention to the timing and pacing of online events--too many similar events can produce fatigue and inattentiveness (It is possible that children are not the only ones that have short attention spans!). Another thing that would have been ever-s0-helpful might have been to provide notes with each PowerPoint slide. I might be expressing a personal preference here, but it is so great to be able to read along with the speaker--especially since it is one of my strategies for for improving my attentiveness and comprehension. I am the type of person that would love to be able to turn-on closed captioning for any audio presentation that does not show the speaker, speaking. With my own personal style of learning and listening, closed captioning as an option for "listening" to the speaker would have been spectacular. Also, I would have appreciated a recording of the presentations--as being able to review them a second time seems to be a strategy that can help my comprehension and recall. Review is good for my soul!

In the future, when I present, I will try to address as many learning styles as might be present in my audience to cover the bases and accommodate the learning of a diverse audience. There are so many new tools that can be implemented through online resources that can make learning content and audio/visual presentation so much more accessible for all. I will surely need to investigate the features of UMConnect to see what accessibility enhancements can be utilized for a varied population of listeners/viewers.